The Drumcree Orange Order parade is set to proceed along Portadown’s Garvaghy Road Sunday after a High Court judge rejected residents’ challenge to its approval. Restrictions cap the procession at 35 people and require it to start by 08:00; about 1,000 people gathered.
The Parades Commission approved the march on Friday, but the Garvaghy Road Residents’ Coalition initially secured an injunction blocking it. An Orange Order member overturned that ruling at the Court of Appeal; the coalition’s further High Court challenge was dismissed after a hearing that ended at 02:15 BST Sunday.
The dispute dates to the mid-1990s, when police prevented the Orange Order from using the route. Related violence included riots, roadblocks and murders and nearly derailed the peace process. Protesters gathered largely peacefully overnight, with two groups blocking the road; police operated checkpoints on main roads into Portadown.
